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CALDWELL'S TAKE
CORNER CUBE TUESDAY 3/4: WWE's stubbornness and inconsistency hurt last night's Raw Mar 4, 2008 - 12:47:52 PM
Updated throughout the day from the corner cubicle, Torch columnist James Caldwell's weekday blog focuses on hot topic current events and other items of interest from around wrestling.
Updated Tuesday, March 4
Last night's Raw was the worst show of 2008, in my eyes. It was WWE at its worst being stubborn and featuring inconsistent characters in frustrating scenarios.
The stubbornness continues to be reflected in the presentation of Floyd Mayweather. There's a simple truth about his on-air personality that WWE doesn't seem willing to accept. It's so simple that WWE should be able to adjust on the fly. Ready? Here we go.
Mayweather is a heel!
Now don't we feel better with that simple truth out of the way? But, since we all know that WWE doesn't make mistakes, nor do they ever misread characters prior to implementing a new TV angle, we will continue to be subjected to weeks of Mayweather being forced into a good guy role that doesn't fit his character.
Aside from the fact that WWE demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge of MMA, or simply wanted to make a mockery of the fastest-growing sport in the world to get over Big Show for whatever self-pleasing reason you want to come up with, the crowd reaction last night should tell the story that this angle is in trouble.
WWE is sending so many mixed signals with this angle, which has completely watered down the great opening act at the No Way Out PPV. The law of diminishing returns has kicked in full force, and WWE has shown an unwillingness to change course after it became quite obvious to everyone else that Mayweather is a heel and his on-air character should be acknowledged as a heel to save the angle.
It was not a good night for characters on this show. John Cena's character, for the first time I can remember in years, came across like a prick. There have been individual segments on individual TV shows where that was the case, but not on an entire show. His smug demeanor telling Hunter and Orton they would be wrestling against each other, then reclining on the couch in Regal's office, and then jumping Hunter in the main event added up to a very inconsistent day at the office for Cena's character.
His character is built on doing the right thing and always fighting - not taking it easy by reclining on a couch - even if fans don't like his style of achieving his personal mission statement. Now, the anti-Cena fans have tangible evidence that supports their dislike of Cena's character that wasn't there before.
Triple H, by positioning himself in the shadows and being aggressive when needed, but not overtly, has moved into the leading role for the Mania title match. He's got that Kevin Nash babyface respect right now where the males in the audience respect him, not Cena.
And then there's the Finlay-McMahon-JBL issue. Fans had no idea how to react to any of this last night because it was heavy-handed, cheesy, and inconsistent. First of all, the "hospital" set was embarrassing. That's the cheesy part. It was heavy-handed with implied child abuse, based on how WWE has presented an adult male as a small child strictly because of his body type.
And, it was inconsistent with Vince McMahon not being upset with any of the revelations about being deceived. Certainly, there could be a shift in the character on the horizon, with McMahon deciding to extract revenge at a later date in a stealth-like manner rather than yelling and screaming this week.
But, the problem is with Finlay's character. He lied. He deceived. He put his son in danger because odds were someone would find out. And we're supposed to root for him? Why, because he helped Hornswoggle fend off Coach and McMahon's tough love for six months?
It's one of those storylines that WWE let drag out too long before deciding they needed to start working toward the finish. Problem is the whole thing is tied into knots with inconsistent characters and heavy-handed material that many fans have given up on because they have no reason to care about any of the involved players.
Raw was a step back for WWE, as they should be polishing up the top matches at Mania, not turning people away from the key angles leading to the biggest PPV of the year. With a few weeks until Mania, WWE needs to re-focus on the path to Orlando. After WWE got its first really bad show of 2008 out of its system, I expect WWE to get back on track next week with the big three-hour show.
By the way, be sure to check out this week's Question of the Week on next week's Raw featuring all WrestleMania re-matches. Drop me a line with your picks to be published later in the week.
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